While special counsel Robert Mueller has concluded there was no
evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, some of the
key people in creating the Russia-collusion narrative themselves have
ties to a foreign nation.

Both the Democratic National Committee as well as Fusion GPS, the
company hired by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to research the Trump
campaign, were using Ukrainian sources in their efforts to discredit
Trump.

Serhiy Leshchenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, was a common
thread involved in Democratic opposition-research efforts into former
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Leshchenko, along with Artem
Sytnyk, the director of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau, was
responsible for publicly disclosing the contents of the Ukrainian "black
ledger," which implicated Manafort, to the media.

Leshchenko also served as a source for various individuals, including
journalist Michael Isikoff and DNC operative Alexandra Chalupa. In
addition, Leshchenko served as a direct source of information for Fusion
GPS and their hired researcher, former CIA contractor Nellie Ohr.

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Leshchenko: A Source for Fusion

Ohr told congressional investigators on October 19, 2018, that while she
was working for Fusion, she was sometimes given leads from both Jake
Berkowitz, her direct supervisor, and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. When asked if any Fusion research was based off "sources of
theirs," Nellie answered affirmatively but said the information that
came from the sources wasn't in relation to the Trump family.

When pressed, Nellie said she recalled them "mentioning someone named
Serhiy Leshchenko, a Ukrainian." She later admitted she knew of
Leshchenko prior to her time at Fusion as he was a "very well-known,
Ukrainian, anti-corruption activist", and said she had followed him in
the press.

Leshchenko revealed the existence in 2016 of the so-called Ukrainian
"black ledger," which allegedly contained a list of secret payments made
by Ukraine's pro-Russian Party of Regions to Manafort, among many
others.

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Leshchenko had adopted a strong anti-Trump stance, telling
the Financial Times in August 2016 that "a Trump presidency would
change the pro-Ukrainian agenda in American foreign policy" and that it
was "important to show not only the corruption aspect, but that he is
[a] pro-Russian candidate who can break the geopolitical balance in the
world." Leschenko noted that the majority of Ukrainian politicians were
"on Hillary Clinton's side."

Nellie Ohr said she wasn't aware how the connection between
Leshchenko and Fusion was established or if they were doing work for
him, but she did agree that Leshchenko was "a source of information" and
acknowledged that she then used that information in following up and
formulating her opposition research.

Later in Ohr's testimony, Leshchenko was briefly mentioned once
again. She appeared to be very careful with her choice of
wording, especially when Manafort's name came up:

Ms. Sachsman Grooms:You mentioned that, at some
point, somebody from Fusion GPS told you that they were giving you a
tip that was based off of a source that was a Ukrainian source, Serhiy
Leshchenko. Is that right?

Ms. Ohr:Yes. That they were, that they were giving me some information that had originated with him in some way.

Ms. Ohr:What I'll say is that at the time at
the same meeting, if I recall correctly, that his name came up, this
piece of paper that lists Mr. Manafort's flights was given to me, and
I'm not--I don't recall exactly right now whether they said this
particular piece of paper comes from Mr. Leshchenko or not.

At this point, the questioning abruptly moved on and no further
questions involving either Manafort or Leshchenko were put forth. Ohr
was never asked if she had ever met with Leshchenko directly.

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